COMMENTARY - TAKING NAMES

December 10, 2008|By Scott Maxwell, Sentinel Columnist

So how does one rack up a $430,000 travel bill?

It's a valid question, since we've learned that Charlie Crist, his fiancM-ie, his fiancM-ie's sister, nine bodyguards and several dozen of Charlie's closest friends and business associates somehow managed to spend that much money this past summer on a European trade mission.

I'm beginning to think someone should've explained to Gov. Good Times that "free trade" didn't mean all the expenses were on the house.

Sure, Charlie's $30,000-plus bill was picked up by businesses, and others paid their own way. But taxpayers footed the bill for the state employees who went on this 12-day, high-class trip that hopscotched through Europe. And it seems like we deserve to know exactly what we bought and what perks our governor enjoyed in the name of "public service."

Unfortunately, while state officials were good about turning over records, they didn't have detailed receipt breakdowns for the crackerjack reporter at our sister paper, the (Fort Lauderdale) Sun Sentinel, who broke this week's story. So I did a little checking of my own.

First of all, I'm thinking soon-to-be Mrs. Gov. Good Times was responsible for some of the drink bills. Because "minibar" receipts show someone (or some ones) in Crist's room imbibed 14 times in Crist's suite on the first day in London alone.

Still, you have to figure Charlie downed a couple of Red Bulls a day. They are, after all, Gov. Peppy's caffeine-charged beverage of choice.

So I contacted The Westin Paris, where $1,385 a night not only gets you a lovely suite with a view of the Eiffel Tower but a staff of first-rate professionals willing to cater to your every whim.

And one of those first-rate professionals was kind enough to tell me how much the hotel charges for each bottle of Red Bull: 10 euros.

Oh, mon dieu!

At the current exchange rate, that's more than $12 a pop.

If that was the case, Crist probably could've gotten a better deal by sending a member of his massive traveling entourage out to the French version of 7-Eleven (Sept-Onze?) and paying retail.

Which brings us to the next reason the trip tab was so high . . .

*Entourage envy. I obtained a list of those who traveled with Crist. It was six pages long.

A total of about 90 people traveled with Gov. Globetrotter at different stages of his European vacation. There were top executives from big law firms, big banks, Realtors -- even an engineer from Universal Orlando. And, of course, the official trade-mission photographer.

Looks like someone (who was trying to boost his prospects as John McCain's running mate at the time) wanted to show those fancy foreign dignitaries that his entourage was bigger than their entourage.

The bodyguards alone, split up among the four countries, spent more than $148,000. And keep in mind: We're talking relatively safe places such as London and Paris . . . where people go to celebrate their anniversary. One can only imagine the bills if Charlie had gone to Baghdad.

*No Priceline.com. The most laughable line about this whole to-do came from the head of the state's economic-development arm. In planning the trip, Manny Mencia of Enterprise Florida claimed that trip organizers "negotiated to the last cent."

I'm not sure Mr. Mencia realizes how many cents it takes to get to the $2,179 that Crist spent each night for the Hilton London Metropole. But it's a lot -- and safe to say that cheaper, yet classy, venues were probably available.

Still, Mencia's line about Enterprise Florida's version of negotiations explains a lot.

I remember earlier this year when it was revealed that NestlM-i Corp. somehow snookered the rubes in Florida government to give it permission to take hundreds of millions of gallons of water every year for the next decade -- all for a $230 permit.

Enterprise Florida was involved in that deal.

So please, Enterprise Florida: No more negotiating!

Promote. Advertise. Sit and look pretty at meetings. But we can't afford any more of your negotiations.

There were certainly other things that contributed to the big bills. It cost more than $5,100, for instance, for Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey to perform less than 12 hours of official duties over the course of four days in London. (Excuse me, Commissioner, but I need to report a theft . . . of my money!)

Put it all together, and you can see how Gov. First Class and Co. started creeping toward the half-mil mark.

No one's arguing against trade missions in general. We need the jobs and the investments. And state officials say this mission already paid off with deals that will translate into plenty of both.

Plus, it's kind of nice to have a governor who looks good in a suit and is a top-notch schmoozer to boot.

But it sure seems like there's a way to make this happen that would cost taxpayers less and also doesn't involve the governor or his emissaries asking business execs -- many of whom need things from the state -- to do him financial favors.

In fact, Charlie, here are two words for you to keep in mind for the next trip: